The Ames chain was another New England discount mart whose first store had been located in an abandoned textile mill. The first Ames Discount Department store opened for business, on March 13, 1958, in the old Ames Worsted Textile Company mill, in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Founded by Milton and Irving Gilman, the chain would eventually be headquartered in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, a suburb of Hartford.
The typical, newly-built Ames store would house between 41,000 and 52,000 square feet. Ames grew by acquiring troubled companies, incorporating them into its business structure, and turning them around. The first acquisition, the Joseph Leavitt Corporation, was conducted in 1972. Purchase of the Davis Wholesale Company and Neisner Brothers-Big-N chain took place in 1979, followed by the purchase of KDT Industries-King's Stores, in 1984, and G.C. Murphy-Murphy's Mart, in 1985.
Ames' luck ran out after its rebranding of the Zayre chain, in October 1989. The newly-expanded conglomerate now encompassed 736 stores, making it the nation's third-largest retailer. However, initial projections for a smooth incorporation of the Zayre operation did not pan out as planned.
The Ames idea was to convert Zayre stores to the Ames model. Unfortunately, this alienated much of the previous customer base. Ames was also struggling under debt incurred as a part of the Zayre purchase. Stores were shuttered, with the Ames chain engaged in bankruptcy proceedings between April 1990 and December 1992.
A reorganization had brought the company back to profitability by 1994. There were now 309 Ames locations. After a brief slump in sales, the situation improved. Buoyed by its return to prosperity, Ames re-entered an acquisition phase in the late 1990s. The struggling Hills chain was absorbed in March 1999. Shuttered Caldor stores were acquired in April 1999, with former Goldblatt's stores -in Chicagoland- purchased in February 2000.
Soon after, Ames' fortunes took a downward turn, with waves of store closings occurring in November 2000 and August 2001. A second bankruptcy was filed. Store shutterings continued in November 2001 and June 2002. By August 2002 the entire Ames chain was out of business.
AMES-ANCHORED SHOPPING MALLS:
*NASHUA MALL, Nashua, NH (1983) [previously Woolco]
*AZALEA MALL, Henrico County, VA (1984) [previously Woolco]
*WESTERN WOODS MALL, Hamilton County, OH (1989) [previously J.C. Penney]
*AZALEA MALL, Henrico County, VA (1984) [previously Woolco]
*WESTERN WOODS MALL, Hamilton County, OH (1989) [previously J.C. Penney]
